Yellowstone Net Newspaper

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YELLOWSTONE WEATHER Highs 40s, Lows 10s Snow Showers More Weather ROAD REPORT Some roads open to snowmobiles. More Info THE DAILY CARTOON ONLINE GREETING CARDS PUBLISHER Yellowstone Net Company EDITOR-IN- CHIEF Bruce Gourley MORE LINKS Discussion Newspaper Archives Send us your comments		WOLF UPDATE by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (USFWS) -- The Yellowstone intensive 30 day spring wolf predation study is ongoing. With the overall mild winter it appears that predation rates are lower than usual. There does seem to be a trend that more mature bulls are being taken than normal. We speculate the extreme drought conditions resulted in poor forage quality last year that did not allow bulls to adequately replenish their body reserves after the rut. Now, even after a mild winter, many bulls are in very poor condition making them vulnerable to predation. The winter count of the northern Range Yellowstone elk herd were compiled by Montana Dept. of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and Yellowstone National Park biologists. The 2000 Gardiner late hunt elk harvest was slightly above average with 90 bulls, 915 cows and 216 calves (total 1221) being harvested. The average harvest since 1976 is 1094 elk. Hunter success was 63% compared to the long term average of 65%. The total elk estimate was 13,400, with the average estimate being 13,890. Early indications are that calf numbers are up this year. Basically the elk herd recovered from a recent low of just over 11,000 plus elk after the big winter die off and subsequent high hunter harvest in 1997 (about 2,400 elk were harvest that year), to about 14,000 plus elk today. Since last year when the research program placed radios on about 73 elk (45 in 2000 and 28 this year),12 have died as of this week. Two have been killed by mountain lions and 5 by wolves (most of those just within the past few weeks). Of 9 radio-collared elk that left Yellowstone Park in winter 2000/2001 six were killed by hunters north of the Park. Basically the information to date indicates that the elk population and late-season elk hunting have not been noticeably affected by wolf predation other than old cows seem to be taken out of the population by wolves. BACK TO TOP
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS Russ Finley Ralph Maughan Kim Steinbacher Steve Brashear Clint Wilkes Hon. Bob Gammage Lee Whittlesey David Monteith Denise Elmer Dr. Bob Bara Matthew McLean		ROAD CONSTRUCTION UPDATE by National Park Service YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- The following information is road construction schedule information for Madison Junction to Norris Junction: Apr 20 - May 25 (12:00 pm) ~ OPEN 24 hours with 30 minute delays May 25 (12:00 pm) - May 29 (6:00 am) ~ OPEN WITHOUT DELAYS May 29 ~ OPEN until 9:00 pm with DELAYS. At 9:00 pm the road will close until 9:00 am the next day. May 30 - Aug 26 ~ Open 9:00 am - 9:00 pm with 30 minute DELAYS Jul 03 (9:00 am) - Jul 05 (9:00 am) ~ OPEN WITHOUT DELAYS Aug 27 ~ Road CLOSES for the season BACK TO TOP
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		EXPANSION AT BIG SKY SKI RESORT News Brief BIG SKY, Mont. -- Big Sky Resort has announced a $400 million expansion plan that includes 1800 additional acres of ski terrain, six new high-speed lift and more than 100 shops and restaurants. Resort officials anticipate that the expansion will keep the resort competitive as a four-season mountain destination. Big Sky is located near Yellowstone National Park, between Bozeman and West Yellowstone, Montana. BACK TO TOP
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		RESCUE IN YOSEMITE by National Park Service YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Cal. (NPS) -- On March 13th, two park concession employees used a cell phone to call for help from the "ice cut," a section of trail blasted into a cliff on the John Muir trail between Nevada and Vernal Falls that fills with ice and snow in the winter. Robert Cresswell, 23, and Eric Phillips, 27, had become stuck on this section of trail, which is closed seasonally due to avalanches and icy conditions. The two men had gone around a locked gate on the trail and ended up in an area where they could neither continue nor go back. Rangers used crampons, chopped steps with ice axes, and set ice screws to get to the pair. They were put into harnesses, then belayed across the steep ice and snow slope. Neither Cresswell nor Phillips was injured. They hiked out under their own power. BACK TO TOP